"This is a stalk of Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo. Its defining trait is toughness, but if you think it's suitable for you to absorb, you'd be sorely mistaken."
Seeing Tang San's expression shift with interest, Li Changsheng hurriedly cut him off, then explained, "It's only suitable for ordinary Soul Masters, but I'll find something better for my disciple!"
Along the way, Li Changsheng had been teaching Tang San about the ages of Soul Beasts.
He hadn't mentioned ages calculated down to the exact year like those in the original story. That was rather ridiculous, since the age of the Soul Ring each person could withstand differed.
Li Changsheng didn't know how Yu Xiaogang had reached the conclusion that the limit for a first Soul Ring was four hundred and twenty-three years. A Beast Martial Soul master, with their superior physique, could definitely absorb one aged four hundred and thirty years or even older.
There was also Whale Rubber.
Only in Douluo II had this substance begun to be used as a body-tempering medicine. It could improve physical fitness and constitution, allowing the age of a first Soul Ring to far surpass the limit and a second Soul Ring to reach a thousand years!
Now that Li Changsheng possessed the most comprehensive theories, refining Whale Rubber would naturally be a breeze.
"Little San, your first Soul Ring needs to come from a life-type Plant-type Soul Beast. That will both awaken the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline within you ahead of time and provide the best possible match for your Blue Silver Grass!"
Although the poison attribute worked quite well on Blue Silver Grass, it would hinder its later evolution and clash with the Blue Silver Emperor's life essence.
"Teacher, I still don't really know the names of these Soul Beasts."
"That's fine. You'll learn all of that later. I'll also give you my own books on theory to study when we get back!"
The two walked through the Soul Hunting Forest. Even in a forest where the beasts were raised in captivity, they couldn't let their guard down in the slightest.
The deeper they went, the older the Soul Beasts became. Although they wouldn't encounter any thousand-year beasts, some Hundred-Year Soul Beasts were just as dangerous.
"Come out, Sanpao!"
With a low grunt, Li Changsheng summoned his Luo Sanpao.
"Luo, luo!"
Little golden Sanpao wagged his tail and kept rubbing against Li Changsheng's trouser leg, his little face full of joy.
"As we go deeper, Hundred-Year Soul Beasts will appear. Although I can deal with them, we mustn't let our guard down."
"Teacher, would you say all Soul Beasts are evil?"
Looking at Luo Sanpao by his feet, Tang San couldn't help asking this question.
For him to think of Soul Beasts after seeing Luo Sanpao-it had to be said that Tang San's thinking really was different from that of ordinary people.
"That depends on how you define Soul Beasts. If you had a close relationship with a Soul Beast, would you hate her, or even want to kill her?"
"Taking it a step further, if she were your lover, your mother, or your brother, would you want to kill them?"
"Although the relationship between Soul Beasts and Soul Masters is difficult to reconcile, neither side lacks a faction that yearns for peace. You only need to do your own part."
Li Changsheng's words were cruel, but realistic. Soul Masters of the present didn't have the Soul Spirits of later eras. If they wanted to break through, they had to hunt Soul Beasts and obtain Soul Rings.
After hearing this, Tang San instead nodded quite seriously. He understood what his teacher meant, but didn't this also prove that Teacher Changsheng's intelligence was truly unmatched?
As they ventured deeper and deeper, the surrounding trees began to change.
Compared with the large trees farther out that were exposed to sunlight for long stretches, almost all the trees here were wrapped in vines. The damp smell in the air was impossible to mask, and not even sunlight shone through.
At the same time, the vitality here was also extremely abundant.
"Woo... luo, luo!"
Luo Sanpao's reaction was rather intriguing. He was happy at first, then became disgusted.
"Teacher, what's wrong with Sanpao?"
"My Sanpao's attribute is fundamentally light. It's probably because it's rather dark here, yet the vitality is extremely abundant. That's why he looks both happy and displeased."
Not far away, a patch of vines caught Li Changsheng's attention.
Countless fine, dragon-whisker-like vines hung down from above, wreathed in a faint, gentle green glow. Their surfaces were smooth, and the entire patch spread over a wide area, lying quietly beneath the shade of the trees.
"Drooping-Root Dragon Whisker Vine. Judging by its color and smoothness, it's about four hundred and thirty years old. Little San, this is the one!"
"My first Soul Ring!"
Tang San also looked excitedly at the vines, his eyes full of anticipation. He took a small dagger out of Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges and started forward.
They hadn't found any danger nearby, and most plant Soul Beasts posed no threat, so Li Changsheng remained where he was and waited for Tang San to kill it.
"Little San, remember to cut it off right at the roots. Don't leave even the slightest bit behind. It's only truly dead once a Soul Ring appears!"
"Understood!"
As a Tang Sect disciple in his previous life, Tang San had been quite skilled at assassination. His short little hands wielded the blade swiftly, cutting through every last strand of the Drooping-Root Dragon Whisker Vine in the blink of an eye.
Before long, a pale yellow Soul Ring slowly rose from the roots that had fallen to the ground.
"So this is a Soul Ring!"
Observing the Soul Ring up close, Tang San's eyes held a trace of curiosity.
"All right, Little San, hurry and absorb it. I'll stand guard for you!"
"Sorry for the trouble."
Tang San respectfully cupped his hands, then sat cross-legged and regulated his breathing. As a stalk of Blue Silver Grass gleaming with pale blue light appeared, a guiding force slowly spread out.
The pale yellow Soul Ring drifted toward Tang San's body, finally merging with him.
As Tang San was a beginner Soul Master, absorbing his first Soul Ring would still take some time, even if it suited his Martial Soul. Li Changsheng didn't wander off, instead sitting cross-legged as well to wait for him to finish absorbing it.
[Detected that disciple Tang San has obtained his first Soul Ring. Reward: increased template progress, Manhua Version Tang San Template ×1] [Martial Soul: Luo Sanpao (Light Dragon King, evolution progress 0.5%)]
"Luo, luo!"
As though sensing something, Luo Sanpao, who was lying beside him, gave a soft cry. The two little bumps on his forehead swelled a little more.
This was clearly the slight change brought about by the increase in template progress. As for the other one... the Manhua Version Tang San Template?
"System, what's this thing for? Don't tell me it just gives Tang San a different skin?"
[His personality and appearance will gradually approach the manhua version over time!]
This really was quite nice. Li Changsheng knew that the manhua version of Tang San had indeed been very good as a child. With his own guidance added in, he was looking forward to it more and more!
"In that case, use it on Tang San!"
As his words fell, a beam of blue-gold light flowed from the system panel into Tang San, who was absorbing his Soul Ring. Only Li Changsheng could see it.
After observing him for a long while and seeing no discernible changes for the moment, Li Changsheng finally settled into silently waiting for him to finish absorbing his Soul Ring.
"Oh, right, System. My Sanpao is already the Light Dragon King, so shouldn't his Soul Skills change too?"